The heartbreaking case of an Ohio dentist and his wife, both allegedly murdered by her former spouse, has left their family grappling with tragedy. For the first time, they have chosen to speak out, voicing their long-held suspicions about the accused perpetrator.
Monique Tepe, a 39-year-old mother of two, and her husband Spencer Tepe, aged 37, were found shot to death in their Weinland Park home in Columbus on December 30. The grim discovery has deeply shaken their community.
Just days after the discovery, Monique’s ex-husband, Michael David McKee, also 39, faced charges for the horrific double murder. This development emerged on Saturday, casting a shadow of relief mixed with sorrow over the family and friends who gathered to honor the Tepes’ memory the following day.
In a poignant statement before the memorial service, a family member of the Tepes, choosing to remain unnamed, shared with the Daily Mail that McKee’s arrest did not come as a shock. They expressed a sense of relief that the alleged murderer was now in custody, albeit acknowledging they had kept their suspicions quiet to avoid interfering with the investigation.
“It was absolutely not a shock to anybody,” the family member remarked, reflecting a sentiment that had silently persisted among those who knew the couple well.
They said: ‘It was absolutely not a shock to anybody, we had all expected it, but we weren’t saying that, because we didn’t want to compromise the investigation.
‘We are all breathing a bit of a sigh of relief, because they got him.’
When asked if they knew of any problems Monique and Spencer had had with McKee recently, the relative replied: ‘Not that I’m aware of.’
Monique and Spencer Tepe’s family broke their silence on their gruesome deaths just before the husband and wife are laid to rest on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio
Monique’s ex-husband, Michael David McKee, 39, was charged with two counts of murder over the brutal double homicides. A family member told the Daily Mail they were not surprised he was taken into custody
The couple was discovered shot dead in their home in Weinland Park, Columbus (pictured) on December 30
Spencer suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and Monique was shot once in the chest. Their one-year-old son, four-year-old daughter, and dog were found unharmed and are currently in the care of loved ones.
The couple was found around 10am after Spencer’s panicked colleagues and a friend raised the alarm and called 911 when he didn’t show up for work that morning.
The murders are said to have occurred at 3.52am, according to a criminal complaint filed at Franklin County Municipal Court on Saturday.
Cops snared a suspect through neighborhood video surveillance and tracked him to a vehicle which arrived just before the killings, and left right after, a summary of facts supporting probable cause stated.
Detectives traced the vehicle to Rockford, Illinois – where McKee works as a vascular surgeon at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center – and found he had been in possession of the vehicle before and after the homicides.
McKee was subsequently arrested in Rockford ‘without incident’ and booked into the Winnebago County Jail, police said.
The couple’s family’s remarks come after McKee’s neighbor said she was left stunned after hearing the surgeon has been accused of killing the Tepes.
Gera-Lind Kolarik, a neighbor of McKee at his upscale Illinois apartment block, told ABC7 she was devastated to hear the news, and expressed her disbelief that McKee was accused of murder, because he ‘did not seem like somebody who would do something like this.’
Spencer suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and Monique was shot once in the chest. Their one-year-old son, four-year-old daughter and dog were found unharmed and are currently in the care of loved ones
She recalled: ‘I sat down with this man, I talked to him at the pool, barbequing. It’s kind of shocking.’
Kolarik said she was heartbroken for the couple’s two young children.
‘How do you explain to a child that mom and dad are here one day and gone the next?’ she said. ‘Those are the real victims of this whole case here, the children.’
Following the arrest of McKee, the Tepe family said in a statement that the arrest ‘represents an important step toward justice for Monique and Spencer.’
‘Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon,’ the family said.
The shootings sparked an urgent manhunt that included investigators releasing footage of a suspect stalking the streets of the Weinland Park neighborhood after the slayings.
Cops revealed there was no sign of forced entry or the supposed murder weapon, but police did find three 9mm shell casings at the scene. They said they did not believe the deaths to be a murder-suicide.
The surveillance video shared by cops was used to identify McKee as a suspect as he was tracked to a vehicle ‘which arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after the homicides’, an affidavit said.
‘Detectives were able to identify this vehicle further and link to Michael McKee. Detectives located the vehicle in Rockford, Illinois and found evidence of McKee in possession of the vehicle prior to and after the homicides.’
McKee’s mugshot was shared on the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office website, which showed he was booked into jail on Saturday just before noon. He is due to appear in court Monday.
Monique, then under her maiden name Sabaturski, was married to McKee briefly from August 2015, with pictures shared on social media of the couple on their wedding day on August 22.
The couple had no children and separated seven months later in March 2016.
In the complaint for divorce, the plaintiff, Monique, stated they were ‘incompatible.’
Divorce documents viewed by Daily Mail show proceedings started in May 2017 and were quickly wrapped up by June.
The documents reveal he paid for her engagement and wedding rings and listed them as his separate property, stating he paid $2,500 for the engagement ring and $3,500 for the wedding ring.
The couple’s separation agreement included a requirement that Monique had to pay McKee $1,281.59 back for ‘miscellaneous debt’, with the added clause that if she did not reimburse him buy July 1, 2018, she would be hit with 23 percent interest.
When the pair filed for divorce, they were living in different states, with Monique living in Westerville, close to her parents Ignatius and Nereida Sabaturski, and working for Nationwide.
Cops snared a suspect through neighborhood video surveillance (pictured) and tracked him to a vehicle which arrived just before the homicides, and left right after the murders
Gera-Lind Kolarik, a neighbor of McKee at his upscale Illinois apartment block, told ABC7 she was devastated to hear the news, and expressed her disbelief that McKee was accused of murder
McKee lived in Roanoke, Virginia, working for the Carilion Clinic. He was listed in the documents as practicing as a vascular surgeon at the OSF Cardiovascular Institute.
When the divorce documents were filed, they also included a ‘standard mutual temporary restraining order, requiring both parties to refrain from ‘harassing…interfering with, assaulting or doing bodily harm to the other spouse’.
The exes paid their own attorney fees and Monique paid the filing fee and fee for a private judge, in a bid to expedite the proceedings privately.
A police spokesman told the Daily Mail that no further information will be released at this time so as not to compromise the ‘active and ongoing case progress.’
He said more information would be released when appropriate.
A public visitation for the Tepes is set from noon to 3pm at the Schoedinger Northwest funeral home in Upper Arlington.
It will be followed by a Celebration of Life at Due Amici, an Italian restaurant in Columbus, from 3.30pm to 6pm.
